ZANU PF’S FAILED STRATEGIES: THE BEGINNING OF THE END
As is often said in enlightening articles, Zanu PF’s strategies, including ethnic cleansing of minorities who supported ZAPU, displacements, maiming, raping, and extra-judicial killings of the resilient opposition, are futile. They embarrassingly show a lack of strategic understanding of reality. The bid to extend the term of office for the most useless chief justice this country has ever seen hit a brick wall. The dissenting court’s judgment, which we won’t reproduce here in full, was based on a simple logical fact supported by the constitution. You do not amend the constitution so that your loyal supporter gets to stay in office. The amendment is not applicable to your pawn; he has to go. Zanu PF, not expecting such a legal setback, found it convenient to cry foul.
After this fatal blow, which dashed their dreams of a one-party state where Zanu PF is everything, the same strategy-deficient Zanu PF had the audacity to claim that the court was captured. Wait, what? Are these guys serious, or are they living in a North Korean fantasy induced by snuff made from gunpowder? Did they or did they not send legal representation to the court they now claim is captured? When they did, did they not realize that the court was captured by the opposition, serving the interests of the West? Zanu PF feels as if the trial was held simultaneously in Washington, London, and Brussels. But the question remains, who forced Zanu PF, the defendant, to defend itself in the captured court in the first place? Believing Zanu PF’s childish narrative is like believing in Santa Claus. The dissenting court, which is not captured by the opposition, has set a precedent. The controversial 2023 elections, if they come before such a dissenting court, could see the peaceful transition of the opposition into power.
As expected from any elections in this country, there will be many glaring irregularities, inconsistencies, and illegalities. The precedent set by this dissenting court gives hope for the outcome of the 2023 controversial election, which, like previous elections, will be resolved in the courts. While it is a source of hope for the opposition, it is a source of terror for Zanu PF. Ironically, Zanu PF enjoys employing terror against nonconformist voices. With an egg on its face and now scratching its scalp in desperation and hopelessness, Zanu PF is terrified. This dissenting court and its landmark judgment pose an existential threat to the very being of Zanu PF.
This precedent, set by the court, is a taste of what is to come. A taste of normalcy in a democratic society. The normalcy of the rule of law and the supremacy of constitutionalism. The requirement, demand, and expectation for this are simple: the inevitable peaceful transition of the opposition into power. This shows the potential of Zimbabwe to become a fully democratic state. It is also a primary priority of the opposition, sensitive to the people’s aspirations, which can only be realized in a democratic environment. The implications are positive. Human and property rights will be sacred and protected. The private sector would thrive because, under an inviolable constitution, market interference and intervention preferred by Zanu PF will be a thing of the past.
The commendable judgment issued by the dissenting court is progressive because it stops the malicious use of lawfare. Lawfare has been used by Zanu PF to crush dissent, violating the fundamental constitutional right to assembly. Opposition members protesting against Zanu PF’s flawed economic policies or showing solidarity for other opposition members targeted with lawfare in courts are at the receiving end of Zanu PF’s inclination for lawfare. This dissenting judgment by the court will prevent further use of lawfare as a means to crush dissent, which Zanu PF sees as a threat to its status quo, thus posing an existential danger to the criminal and sadistic Zanu PF.
Another welcome implication is the end of immunity against prosecution for the plundering of the economy and people’s wealth. This is because the independent judgment by a court, at a time when much of the judicial service commission is captured and dependent on Zanu PF, shows that Zanu PF is not invincible but is a group of cowardly criminals. If courts like this dissenting one are presented with evidence of corruption by Zanu PF, there will be real justice.
This is not the last you will hear of dissenting courts and their judgments, nor is it the last time you will hear of Zanu PF complaining about imaginary interference from the EU and US. Zanu PF enjoyed using captured courts against the opposition. Now, independent courts are against Zanu PF and its futile dreams of a one-party state.
